Mistlefoe
by Laina Inverse
Summary: Christmas at the compound can sometimes be a little fraught. But hearing what Yusuke calls mistletoe? That's just a new sort of chaos. (Same Difference universe, holiday one shot, you're welcome guys XD)


Mistlefoe

"So, where are we hosting the big gathering this year?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Yusuke grinned a little. "Only place big enough is up at Sis's place."

"Well, yes, but does Kimiko have the time?" Keiko asked, raising an eyebrow at her errant husband.

"Dunno, haven't asked, but she hosts every year," he replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"Except when she doesn't."

Yusuke shrugged lightly.

"Papa, are you gonna call Auntie? Are we gonna go visits?"

He grinned down at his seven-year-old daughter, ruffling Sayaka's hair lightly. The tiny girl had enough fire in her that every time they went up, Kimiko was including her in self-defense training. While she hadn't yet shown any signs of spirit energy, Kimiko had said it was likely only a matter of time.

"Well, sine you're Mom's being a grump, I might as well."

"I'm being _practical_ ," Keiko retorted, lightly smacking Yusuke with a hand towel. "You'd better hurry up though; if we don't post close notices soon, people are going to assume we'll be open!"

"All right, all right, I'm gonna do it!"

The shop bell dinged, and they both sighed.

"...just as soon as we're done for the day."

* * *

Shuuichi smiled a little to hear Kimiko's teasing laughter as he walked in the door, absently brushing off some snow into the foyer as he traded his boots for house slippers. She only laughed like that when their friends called, and especially so when it was her brother.

No doubt _someone_ was calling to ask about this year's winter party; they had absconded from the duty in the past year with Tori being so young and Kimiko being tired from chasing two children. This year though, Kimiko had commented that it might not be a bad idea.

"-on't mind, but someone's going to have to come up here and help me decorate," she was saying as he walked into the kitchen. "Shuuichi's business has picked up, so he's- Hi dear~-coming home a bit later now."

He leaned over and kissed her cheek, catching the sound Yusuke's voice from the receiver. Something about not wanting to bother with decorations.

"Well, I can't do it all myself, Yuu," she replied, raising her voice a little as Genkai came stomp-running her way into the kitchen, followed unsteadily by her younger brother. "No, Yukina works for Shuuichi, and Kaz is in the city right now, working on that replacement building, remember? Well, that's hardly my fault. No, Jin and Toya are off. Because Koenma needed them for something. No, I didn't ask; if they need my help, they'll tell me. Everyone's _busy_ Yusuke, me included. I don't mind being party host, since we've got the room, but I still need help."

Shuuichi crouched to be on level with his children; Genkai immediately pounced on him, grinning in glee.

"Uncle Yuu's comin, innit he?" the five year old demanded.

"That is a good possibility," he replied, "though it may be a few days yet."

"'apa~ 'ug!"

Tori hadn't quite managed full sentences yet, but neither adult was worried; the boy would talk when he was ready, and until then, his short words were understandable enough. Shuuichi picked him up as well, for a welcoming hug.

"Yusuke, you can whine all you want, _everyone's_ got jobs," Kimiko said wryly, shaking her head down at Shuuichi, who chuckled softly. "Mine currently consists of running after a six year old and a two year old, and no, I am _not_ just going to try and dump them on anyone who comes to help. Uh huh. You do that, dope. Okay, call me when you know what's up. Yeah, love you too. Brat."

She laughed as she hung up, shaking her head in wry amusement.

"We are playing host then?" Shuuichi asked.

"I'd like to, definitely. I just have to figure out how to keep these two teeny troublemakers," and she crouched down, tickling her children so that they squealed, "occupied so that I can get things like the garlands, the lights..."

"Treeeee~" Genkai sang out between her giggles.

"...yes, and that. No climbing," Kimiko said a little sternly. "If you knock over a tree, you could get hurt."

Tori nodded with wide eyes, but Genkai didn't look even remotely put out by the idea.

"Mama just makes everyone better~" the girl chirped.

Shuuichi shook his head slightly, and managed to refrain from smiling too much.

"It would still be bad to climb the tree we'll bring inside," he replied. "It would be rude to the tree, and we don't want that, do we?"

Genkai paused to think about this, and it was Kimiko's turn to hide a smile.

"Okay, Papa, I won't climb a tree inside," she said finally.

"Good girl. Time to get off now; I have to start making supper."

"Yay, supper!"

"Training first," Kimiko said, no longer hiding her smile. "Come on you."

Genkai bounced off, and Shuuichi set Tori down; immediately the boy started toddling determinedly after Genkai, who was headed off to her room to change. Kimiko straightened with a faint sigh, and Shuuichi stood too, leaning over to give her a proper kiss.

"Something restorative?" he asked, nuzzling at her lightly.

"I wouldn't say no," she replied, briefly snuggling into his hold. "I'm probably going to end up needing quite a bit."

"Well, we'll figure out a way to make it work," Shuuichi kissed her lightly again. "Theoretically, Jin and Toya ought to return by next week, after all."

"Yes... _theoretically_."

He chuckled and hugged her fondly, then released her so that she could go help their daughter learn a little more in terms of energy control.

* * *

With the children in bed, Kimiko was tempted to lounge in the entertainment room, see how long it took before Shuuichi joined her... but Christmas was two weeks away, and they were getting a late enough start on things as it was. So instead she went into the kitchen, found some scrap paper, and started making notes and diagrams on how to decorate.

"Strategic mistletoe?" Shuuichi asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Up where the kids can't reach, but the adults can see."

"We've never done that before," he pointed out, sliding into the seat next to her.

"I know. I thought it'd be fun to change things up a little," Kimiko smiled at him.

"You look like you're planning mischief."

Kimiko couldn't help but grin, and poked him gently with the eraser end of her pencil.

"Dear, you're one to talk. Planning mischief is one of your favorite things."

Shuuichi laughed softly, and moved his chair closer so that he could wrap an arm around her shoulders; she snuggled against him quite contently, more than willing to take a few moments to relax with him.

"It should be interesting to explain to the demons of the family," he said after a moment. "Human holidays and traditions are still fairly foreign to them, even after all this time."

"Well, that and Master Genkai never really liked decorating," Kimiko replied, making an absent note. "She always claimed she was too old, and too short to give a damn. And of course, the rest of us were too careful of her to actually descend with decorations. _I_ don't rate the same courtesy~"

"You're also not protesting."

She grinned.

"Nope. How's the shop?"

"Busy, as you surmised," he replied, lightly pressing his cheek against her head. "I've put up the notices, however, that we will be closed for the days between Christmas and New Years. Yukina was very insistent that we get those up before anything else this morning. Now we just have to hope that people actually read those signs, so that we're not inundated the day we reopen with complaints."

Kimiko gave him a wry look, then kissed his cheek when he sighed knowingly.

"I'll call everyone else tomorrow, see who's willing to do what. Would you mind asking Yukina if she's got any ideas? You'll see her first, after all."

"I will," and he nuzzled her lightly. "But I think for now, we might retire to bed?"

" _Only_ retire?~"

Instead of answering, he leaned down and gave her a kiss.

* * *

"Okay, I got garlands, lights, this tinsel-y crap..."

"Yusuke, _language_ ," Kimiko sighed a little. "I know they loaded you down, but honestly..."

He grunted a little, and half-shrugged as he continued going through the various boxes and bags that had been more or less shoved upon him by everyone who was too busy to come up right away.

"Who's covering for you at the diner?"

"Pops," Yusuke said with a dry smile. "He said he was too old to come all the way up here, so he'd just make it easier on the rest of us. Keiko and Sayaka are comin up at the end of the week."

"Oh good, Gen's looking forward to seeing Saya again."

"How's the training comin along?"

Kimiko sighed ruefully.

"Well, she's not shooting little green balls of energy all over the place, so theoretically, it's going well. Here, pass me those lights, and that hammer, would you?"

"Still don't see why you're not getting the slacker brigade out here for this..."

"Yuu... lemme put it this way. Do you _want_ Suzu to take over the decorating?"

Yusuke's shudder was mostly theatrical. Mostly. Kimiko grinned a little; Suzuki would declare _all_ their decorations to be plain when he saw them, but this way he couldn't actively turn everything into a rainbow monstrosity. Which he would.

"I didn't think so. Shishi's too dismissive; he'd upset Genkai, and then there'd be holes in the wall. Suzu would try to take over. Rinku would get too excited and then distracted. Chu, Toya, and Jin are all unavailable. So," Kimiko shrugged lightly. "You're it. Now gimme the hammer, would you?"

* * *

Shuuichi pitched in over the weekend, helping to straighten out the somewhat haphazard nature of the decorating; Yusuke's was somewhat careless, and Kimiko's often got abandoned so that she could keep Genkai and Tori busy with other things that would keep them out of the way.

Fortunately, Keiko and Sayaka arrived that weekend as well, and Yukina elected to join them as well. They were able to trade off entertaining the children with decorating, which helped things become a bit less of a disaster.

"Whoooo, what's all this then?" Jin exclaimed as he and Toya walked in, letting in a burst of winter air.

"Uncle Jiiiin~"

Toya moved adroitly to the side as the wind master was instantly pounced on, and Kimiko snickered a little as the redhead was neatly bowled over my three enthusiastic children.

"We're hosting the Christmas party," she said cheerfully. "Since the children are a bit older, we thought some proper decorating wouldn't go amiss. Your assignment went well?"

"It did," Toya nodded as Jin flailed comically. "I'm surprised you don't have Suzuki here."

"I thought about it. Decided the idea was too scary. He'd take over, and then all my calming ideas would go out the window. There's still plenty to do if you're interested in helping?" She snickered as Jin extricated himself from the three children. "Or you can try and rest up. I can't guarantee it's very restful around here, though."

Jin grinned a little.

"I'll watch the tykes~"

"You're nuts, but okay," Kimiko laughed a little. "Toya?"

"Someone has to watch Jin to keep him out of trouble."

"All right. Yell for me if you need some help, I'm going to make sure Yusuke hasn't broken something. Again."

* * *

"You guys leave anything in the stores for anyone else?" Kazuma joked as he helped out in the kitchen.

"Most of this was hand-grown," Shuuichi replied with a small smile. "Kimiko said I shouldn't push too hard, but she so rarely asks for this sort of work. It wasn't too difficult, and I have to admit, it does lend a more special air to the festivities."

It also had all three children quite worked up and ready for the actual holiday. All the smells of fresh pine, and cinnamon, mixing with the scent of special holiday treats meant that today, Jin, Toya and Kimiko had taken them out for a long, winter walk.

"How's it all gonna come down?"

"Very carefully, according to Kimiko," he said with a small chuckle. "We can safely store most of it, at least, for use in the future."

"That'll be nice, havin a for-sure place for things like this again. The diner was kinda cramped and all."

"It really was," Keiko agreed with a small sigh. "And a bit hard on my parents too, when we kind of kept going after we were supposed to stop..."

Shuuichi smiled ruefully; the party the previous year had sort of taken on a life of its own, and that hadn't exactly been fair to the Yukimuras,who had expected them out by midnight. Not three in the morning.

"Well, at least here we can put the kids to bed on one side of the temple, and make it so that they won't hear the ruckus from the other side," Shizuru said a little wryly. "No harm, no foul, and no one kept awake because someone can't tone their voice down."

Kazuma shot his sister an irritated look; she only smirked back at him.

"You must admit, you and Yusuke do have a tendency to forget what an inside voice _is_ ," Shuuichi said with a teasing smile for his friend.

"Ah, if he'd just stop bein such a punk..."

"You'd both find something else to argue about," Keiko cut in with a giggle.

* * *

"It's called mistlefoe," Yusuke said, his tone authoritative. "You meet someone under this, and you gotta duke it out!"

Kimiko stopped. Looked into the dojo. Yusuke was pointing out the bunches hung on the ceiling to Jin and Toya. Jin looked enthused by the idea, while Toya looked... dubious.

"I thought this holiday was about peace," the ice master said.

"Sure! You punch out someone you got a grudge against, and then there's peace all around!"

"That... is an _excellent_ tradition!" Jin said, bouncing eagerly on his toes. "When does it start?"

"No, no, _no,"_ Kimiko sighed, pushing the door open. "It's mistle _toe_ , not mistle _foe_ , and there's nothing about it that means slug someone."

"Aww, come off it Sis, of course it does," Yusuke argued.

"The tradition is you _kiss_ someone you meet under the mistletoe," she continued, giving her brother a light shove. "Weirdo fight junkie."

"So I'm _not_ allowed ta punch anyone under the bunches?"

Kimiko eyed Jin, who looked moderately crestfallen, and Yusuke who looked put out. After a moment she threw her hands up in the air. It couldn't hurt to indulge them, even if they were just being a pair of dorks, but there definitely had to be limits on it.

"Only in the dojo," she said firmly. "If you punch anyone in the rest of the house, _I'm_ going to be the one you have to deal with. And where the _hell_ did you get mistlefoe from anyways, Yuu?"

"It's what I always heard," he replied defensively. "And why _not_ fight under it?"

"Because that's the _farthest thing_ from the actual tradition, and how the hell did you miss this, anyways? I mean, okay, schools don't decorate that intensively, but _still!_ "

"I can see who the first two fight contenders are going to be," Toya said, smiling slightly.

Yusuke snickered as Kimiko turned a sour look on her friend. Jin grinned a little, nudging his partner lightly.

"Careful, or she might decide ta come after you instead," he teased.

Kimiko rolled her eyes and left the room; she knew when they got started, the best thing to do was walk away, otherwise she probably would end up punching someone just on principle.

"Mistlefoe," she huffed an amused sigh. "Well, I suppose it could be worse..."

* * *

"He called it _what?_ " Keiko said.

"Mistlefoe," Kimiko replied, lounging against the kitchen wall, well out of the way.

"...that sounds like him," Kazuma said after a minute, snickering.

"Oh, it gets better. He said anyone who meets under it has to fight."

Keiko groaned and buried her face briefly in the oven mitts she was wearing as Kazuma burst out laughing.

"Yup, that's _definitely_ Urameshi!"

"Tell me there's not going to be random fights all over the house?" Keiko pleaded.

"I said they could do it _only_ in the dojo, but..." she sighed a little. "Jin's enthusiasm might prove problematic, and since when does Yusuke ever actually listen?"

"Jin will listen if you threaten him with further mountain training," Shuuichi pointed out, a small smile on his face.

"I _might_..."

Chuckling, he moved over to give her a small kiss, earning him a faint smile in response.

"You know, Kaz, you're going to be a prime target for Yuu," Kimiko pointed out. "You two are always beating each other up _anyways_."

"As long as it ain't when we're havin dinner..."

Kimiko groaned, laughed, and tucked her head briefly against her husbands' shoulder as Shizuru reached over and smacked Kazuma with a dish towel.

* * *

"It didn't even take ten minutes..."

"At least they took it outside? Maybe if they smother each other in snow, they'll run out of energy early."

Shizuru gave Kimiko a wry look, and after a moment the younger woman sighed.

"I know, I know, that's never going to happen. Especially not with everyone else cheering them on..."

"Mistle _foe_ , mistle _foe,_ mistle _foe!_ "

She rolled her eyes tolerantly as Jin and Chu both started chanting; Rinku joined in a minute later as Yusuke and Kazuma brawled in the snow.

"At the risk of sounding horribly naïve, what on earth?" Koenma asked, poking his head out the side door.

"Yusuke's apparently heard mistletoe as mistlefoe since we were kids. I made the mistake of telling him he could do it as long as they kept to the dojo," Kimiko replied ruefully.

"That's... well, all right then," Koenma said after a moment, shaking his head slightly. "I suppose someone's halls are definitely getting deck, in that case."

"As ever, Kaz is losing, but I suppose as long as they're having fun and _don't_ get anyone else involved..."

"How long do you think that'll last?"

Kimiko frowned thoughtfully for a moment.

"...probably until one of them misses with their load of snow. So, any minute now, really..."

Not even ten seconds later, Yusuke's load of snow hit Chu full in the face.

"So that's the way ya wanna play it, huh?!" the taller man bellowed. "Awright, c'mere you!"

Chu's aim was just as bad as Yusuke's, and half-buried Rinku. Rinku yelped, and threw snow back... only it hit Jin, and suddenly there was snow flying in every direction.

"...maybe we _should_ just call it mistlefoe in this house," Kimiko sighed. "It certainly wouldn't be _wrong_..."


End file.
